Blended
by jayhogartismyangel
Summary: Clare's mom begins to date a guy that she met at a church fundraiser. What happens when they get engaged, and it turns out the guy has a kid of his own? What happens when Jay Hogart becomes Clare and Darcy's new stepbrother?
1. Prologue

**Blended**

**Summary: Clare's mom begins to date a guy that she met at a church fundraiser. What happens when they get engaged, and it turns out the guy has a kid of his own? What happens when Jay Hogart becomes Clare and Darcy's new stepbrother?**

**Pairings/Couples: EClare, Janny, some Parcy, Helen/Michael Hogart.**

**Prologue**

Clare Diana Edwards giggled under her breath as she walked into her house with her best friend, Adam Torres and her boyfriend, Eli Goldsworthy. The three misfits had to work on a project for their eleventh grade, advanced English class and had all decided to go to Clare's house to do it, since her mother wasn't supposed to be home from the church fundraiser until really late. She led the way to the kitchen and grabbed three Cherry Cokes from the fridge, setting them down on the table before she ran to the pantry to retrieve a bag of barbecue chips and a smaller bag of sour cream and onion, shutting the pantry door with her foot.

The three headed upstairs, to her room.

Helen Dominic hummed a religous tune under her breath as she began to straighten out the tableclothes. She placed forks, plates, and other silverware on the table as well. Tonight, was a spaghetti dinner and an auction. All the money earned tonight, would be going torwards the elderly in the nursing homes. Even though she and Randall were working on their divorce, she still went to all of the fundraisers and church events that she and her soon to be ex-husband, had frequented. She couldn't help it though. Doing things to help others was a hobby to her. She loved the very idea of it. Just as she reached over to place plates on another table, a shadow stood over her, effectively distracting her. She looked up, startled and her eyes met a pair of friendly brownish-green ones.

"You're Helen Edwards, right?" The mysterious man inquired gently, curiously as he leaned his him against the table. His gaze was locked firmly on him, awaiting his answer expectedly.

It's Dominic. Helen Dominic." She answered him, cocking her head to the side and raising one of her dark eyebrows. "I've never seen you around here before. Who are you?"

The mysterious man laughed, his eyes sparkling brilliantly as his dirty blond hair fell in his eyes. "I'm Michael. Michael Hogart. I'm new to this church. I just joined it today." He told her.

His grin was infectious, so she smiled back it him. She was completely content to just stand here and hold a conversation with him. "Well, our church could always use more members." She replied.

"So, what time is your mom going to back?" Eli asked of Clare, curiously as he looked at her. She was lying on the bed, on her stomach, with a textbook infront of her and her feet up in the air.

Her head popped up and she furrowed her brow at him in confusion. "Probably not until eleven or twelve." She replied. "Why are you asking, anyway?"

He just shrugged his shoulders, much to the amusement of Eli.

Helen laughed as she sat across the table at Little Miss Steaks with Michael. The two had talked some more at the church and found that they had alot in common. She hadn't felt this comfortable with a guy in quite awhile. It was really refreshing as was the fact that he seemed so interested in everything that she had to stay.

To be continued: Clare notices a difference in her mom, Jay and Manny come back for a visit.


	2. Chapter One

**Blended**

**Chapter One**

The sunlight poured from the window, causing Clare to stir in her bed. She blinked blearily and yawned as her blue eyes adjusted to the light. They widened when she caught sight of the clock and saw that it was already nine in the morning. Her gaze trailed over to the floor where Adam lay, fast asleep, his mouth open as he snored loudly. Eli was passed out at the foot of the bed, the book that they'd been required to read lay beside of him, forgotten.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she wondered why her mother hadn't woken them up last night when she'd come in. Usually, her mother didn't want guys being there when she wasn't home to chaperone. Surely she'd have came in to the room to check on her daughter. Shaking that thought out of her head, she chewed on her bottom lip and crawled on her hands and knees to the end of the bed, gently reaching out to rouse her boyfriend, awake.

His green eyes fluttered open and he held himself up with his elbow, staring at her in confusion. "_Clare?" _He asked of her in disbelief. "What time is it?"

"Nine in the morning." Clare whispered back, chewing on her bottom lip as she cast her eyes down to the floor where Adam lay.

Eli's eyes widened in shock and his mouth formed an "O" of surprise. "Shit! I should probably getting home. CeCe and Bullfrog are probably wondering where I'm at. What about your mother, Clare? I'm surprised that she didn't walk in and find us, here."

She shrugged, curls bouncing into her blue eyes as she shoved them back. "I am too. Usually she comes in to check on me. She'd probably blow a gasket if she knew that you and Adam spent the night." She murmured shyly, looking up at him with reddened cheeks.

Eli snorted lightly and rolled his eyes at her, lifting up his eyebrows suggestively. "That's _a bit _of an understatement, don't you think?" He inquired teasingly. He knew from experience that her mother was very overprotective. Her reaction a few weeks ago, when she'd caught them making out on the living room couch was proof of that.

Clare blushed an even deeper shade of red, before leaning in to kiss his lips gently. "Well, you can't exactly blame her." She breathed against his full lips, gently, wrapping her hands around his neck and lacing her fingers through his dark hair. "I mean, she did catch you on top of me, with your shirt off."

Eli chuckled deeply and was about to speak when a loud, disgusted scoff interrupted the moment.

"I can't believe that I wake up and first thing that I see in the morning is _this. _Your cuteness makes me want to _puke."_

The couple in question laughed at their best friend's comment and pulled away from eachother.

"Are you two hungry? We have pancake and waffle mix in the cupboard, if you want any."

Adam shot to his feet at the sound of that. "I'm starving!" He commented, before rushing torwards the bedroom door and pratically running downstairs.

Clare giggled at that and turned her head ever so slightly to lock eyes with her boyfriend's. "We should probably hurry down there before he eats all the food or burns the place down, trying to make something." She told him, standing up and tugging at his arm.

Eli's arms wrapped around her waist and his face buried itself into the curve of her neck as they walked downstairs.

When they got to the kitchen, Clare was surprised to see Adam sitting at the table alone, stuffing his mouth full of the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies that Clare and her mother had made, the day before last.

"That's strange." Clare said. "My mom's not up yet?"

"Dude, your mom's car isn't even in the driveway!" Adam said, shaking his head as he reached his hand into the cookie jar for another cookie.

Clare arched her eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief before she went out to the living room, coming back moments later with a look of shock shining clearly in her blue eyes. "She should've been back by now! What if something happened to her?" She was freaking out now, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes as every possible worst case scenario flitted through her mind.

Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her close to him as Adam stood up from his seat and walked over to place a comforting hand on Clare's slender arm. "I'm sure that your mom's fine Clare. Maybe she just got too tired so she got herself a hotel room or something."

She shook her head in denial, grabbing the cordless phone off of the kitchen wall, about ready to call her mother's cellphone when she heard the front door open.

000

"It's good to be back home." Manny Santos said, a smile curving her lips as she stretched her slender arms above her head.

Jay Hogart smirked at his fiancee lightly as they stopped infront of a stoplight. "It would definitely be good to see Spin and Emma, again." He replied, nodding in agreement.

"And don't forget! We have to stop by and see your father and give him an invitation to her wedding." Manny told him, dark eyes wide.

Jay rolled his eyes and scoffed. "_Why?"_

"Because he's your father!" She chided, staring up at him. "You two might not have always had the best relationship, but there's always time to change that."

"It's not going to do any good." Jay grumbled, not saying another word after Manny shot him another glare.

**Next Chapter: Helen tells Clare about Michael. Clare and Jay are in for a shock during dinner at a restaurant.**


End file.
